r
gg
Dec 2017 - p.9
proud of you for touring out of your comfort
zone, but don't depend on them to travel to
those shows. New areas should mean new
people and you gotta create a genuine reason
for them to come see you. Do not blame them
for your shows’ lack of attendance. However, if
you play a home show and they still don't come,
then maybe they aren't as supportive as you
thought? Or maybe you aren't doing enough to
encourage them to want to see you live? Did
you really do whatever it took? Did you even
spend any money on advertising your gig?
There are a lot of issues with what clarifies as
actual success. If you do something remarkably
well, you don't always get the reaction you
expect. When the primary school teacher told
me I'd ruined the toy I'd been playing with I told
her "That's how I play". I was then given the toy
to take home. I then fixed it. Now, I'm positive
that that doesn't count as a success story, but I
find most of the things which I consider as
successful are personal to me in some way and
memories I get to take home and treasure. The
real memories you have of the long hard journey
are actually those infrequently few wonderful
moments that make it worth doing. There may
well have been a few embarrassing parts you'd
rather delete, tough times behind and ahead but
you're alive, you've lived and you're living it
whilst others can only day dream about it. Some
academics suggest that success is about
carefully balancing responsibilities and never
quitting. Just do what you think you can do; if
you can do more then do that too. In my opinion,
being successful is about being consistent,
that's how I play.
Merry Xmas.
it was my battle against odds that inspired them
to do the things that they do in music today. Of
course, they never bloody told me ‘till years
later, which was a real bitch as that would have
cheered me up no end. I personally believe that
if you are serious about anything in the music
business then you have to invest your own
money into it. If you don't have faith in your own
vision then why should others? I had this
conversation recently with a very bitter musician
and I told him that if there wasn't any money in
music I'd just do it anyway because it's all I ever
wanted to do, he then later bought my bands’
album.
Let's be clear. You always have to play your best
in public. However, performing live believe it or
not, plays only a small factor to a gigs’ success.
An actual live show means your band either
playing at a venue or function room near to you
or one further afield. The majority of young acts
playing in new territories seem to have the
lacklustre attitude of not promoting their shows
if they happen to be more than thirty miles away
from the venue they're booked to play because
their nearby friends won't be able to travel there.
Unless those friends move away that will never
change. Let’s face it, you're fortunate if you can
convince them to take in a show closer to home
seriously. When I play away from my region I
expect to play to new people and I do. What I
don't do is expect them to turn up by accident. I
look for whatever news or music media covers
that region and contact them about the show,
post on relevant Facebook groups that cater for
that area of the country, advertise etc. Yes, by
all means let your fans and friends know and be
PLAYING
AWAY
LIVE
WHAT
IS
SUCCESS?
very angry
In the
beginning the universe was created
This has made a lot of people
and has been widely regarded
as a
bad move
